


Anything For You

by anxiousscififan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 18:13:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15078815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxiousscififan/pseuds/anxiousscififan
Summary: Pidge Holt, a young and talented wielder of nature magic, is suddenly taken captive by soldiers of the oppressive Galra Empire. Matt, her non-magic but determined brother, must call on powerful friends to help bring her home.





	Anything For You

                The thin tree branch swung back into its natural position, clocking Matt neatly in the throat.

                “Hey!” he yelped, choking a bit as he did so. “Couldn’t you have held that back three more seconds?”

                His sister, Pidge, who walked ahead of him along the brambled forest path, snickered at his misfortune. “It’s your own fault for hitting that growth spurt and getting so much taller than me.” She waved her hand lazily, and the branches ahead of them bent to her will, clearing the way for the two siblings to proceed.

                They soon made it to their secret destination: a hidden garden, complete with an apple tree grove. If the Galra soldiers ever found out about this place, they would surely have the Holt siblings’ heads, but Pidge’s capabilities kept the surrounding forest dense and difficult to traverse. The Holts had been growing fruits and vegetables for years to supplement the meager food allowance the Galra gave to the people of the village, and as far as Matt and Pidge could tell, the taskmasters didn’t suspect a thing.  

                Matt got to work quickly picking apples. It was quite the chore; Pidge’s magic bolstered the output of the little garden, so there was quite a lot of fruit to gather. He heard his sister curse quietly behind him in the vegetable patch.

                “Ugh, the deer got in and ate a whole lot of lettuce again. How do they keep doing that?” came her exasperated voice. “I’m going to check the perimeter and try to figure out where they are getting in and close it off. I’ll be back in a bit.” With that, she was off, leaving Matt to his produce.

                Before the Galra came, being born without nature magic had been something of a handicap for Matt, especially in an agricultural village like the one the Holts called home. About seven years ago though, when Matt was eleven, the invaders overwhelmed the town with sheer numbers, taking possession of the surrounding lands and forcing the citizens into servitude to the Galra Empire. The taskmasters exploited the villagers’ ability to grow food quickly and efficiently, and they maintained their grip by taking custody of all those too old to work in the fields. Any rebellion would result in harm to the beloved grandparents of the town, and any magic-wielding outside of the workday was punishable by death. Matt was no longer so different from most of his fellow villagers, but this wasn’t the equality he had in mind when he dreamed as a child.

                Matt was suddenly ripped from his thoughts by an unmistakable, profane yell. He dropped all the apples he was holding in his jacket and ran as fast as his scrawny legs would carry him to the source of the sound. Pidge was in trouble, and he had to find her. Unfortunately, the garden was designed to be impossible to enter without nature magic, so even though Matt knew the way out, navigating the roots, briars, and branches that kept out soldiers and pests took a long time—far too long.

                Pidge’s satchel was hanging from a tree in a small clearing near the garden’s perimeter, but there was no other sign of the tiny fourteen-year-old. There were, however, footprints, and Matt could never fail to recognize the distinctive pattern from the shoes that made them. The same jagged treads had marked the steps of the town’s overseers for seven years. Matt’s knees went weak and his stomach dropped like a lead weight as the realization hit him.

                The Galra soldiers had found and taken Pidge.

                Matt followed the footprints, desperate to do whatever he could to get his little sister back. He wasn’t entirely sure what he _could_ do against the large, violet-clad soldiers, but he had to try. After several minutes of running, Matt realized that the footprints were not leading back to the village; they were headed to the main highway. With dread, Matt followed the tracks as long as he could, but at the road’s edge, they meshed with thousands of similar footprints and several wagon tracks pointing in all directions.

                He sank to his knees in defeat and despair, but he soon spotted a most beautiful and welcome clue: a shoe. The green-dyed leather shoe was definitely Pidge’s, and as soon as Matt saw its twin several meters away, he almost dared to hope again. Pidge had kicked off the shoes and left him a starting direction for finding her.

                Matt knew there were two things he needed to do. First, he needed to tell his parents what had happened and why he was going to be leaving town for a while. Second, he needed to pay a visit to his old friend Shiro.


End file.
